I wanted to conduct my own corrosion test to see which one of my lubes would protect my weapons and fishing gear the best when exposed to an ocean water salt spray. Since I had fishing reels in mind along with weapons, I wanted to have parkerized steel, brass (reel gears are often brass) and aluminum test media. The media that I had on hand that would fulfill these parameters was Federal Lake City 5.56x45 stripper clips for the parkerized steel and the brass insert inside them. I selected aluminum foil tape for the aluminum test media. The salt water spray was water dipped directly out of the Atlantic ocean, filtered through a coffee filter to remove the sand, and loaded into a spray mister.

I inspected each stripper clip and insert and determined them to be free of any rust and corrosion. The tape was a new roll and it was cut into strips similar to the length and width of the stripper clip. All media was completely degreased with 91% isopropyl alcohol and heated to 175 degrees in a toaster oven to insure that all alcohol was removed. I also used small bright steel nails to nail the stripper clips to a 1x4 board. I used used nitrile gloves and a fresh cotton swab to apply product to insure that there was no cross contamination of lubes.

Once the test began they were completely covered with a saltwater mist once each day for a total of 7 days. On day 5 it rained for approximately 30 minutes which actually washed off some of the accumulated salt crust off the test media. The photos were taken this afternoon on day eight of the test.

1) Control: No protectants applied and there is significant rusting of the parkerized steel. There is a blue green patina all over the brass insert and just a hint of aluminum oxide forming on the aluminum strip. NOTE: this aluminum strip is the only one to show any sign of corrosion.

2) Breakfree CLP liquid from 2006: This is older style Breakfree is green in color with gray PTFE. Bottle marked MIL-L-63460 and it has a National Stock Number as well. There is slight surface corrosion of the steel and brass. Nail heads are starting to rust.

3) Breakfree aerosol: Can purchased from Wal-Mart on clearance when Winchester CLP went on the shelves. This product smells just like the Breakfree I was issued in the USAF 1995-1999. Its an amber color with no visible PTFE. Visible corrosion is starting to form on the steel and brass.

4) Safariland Breakfree CLP: Product purchased new this year. Amber colored liquid and no visible PTFE. Significant rust is starting to form on the steel and there is corrosion on the brass. These results seem to fall in line with people saying that this product is not as good as it used to be.

1) Froglube paste: I applied this product while the test media was still warm as per the manufacturer recommendations. Very slight almost imperceptible freckling of rust under the word ASSY on the stripper clip. Nail heads are starting to rust a bit and slight corrosion on the brass.

2) Slip2000 EWL: Slight surface rust on the stripper clip, heavy rust on the nails, and large areas of discoloration on the brass. Rust appeared on the third day and hasn't gotten much worse since then.

3) Weapon Shield CLP: Rust forming on the stripper clip surface more than the Slip2000 and the nail heads show significant rust. Brass is discolored the same as the Slip2000. I must add that there was zero rust on the WS test media until day 5. On day 6 the corrosion cropped up and became much worse on day 7.

4) Eezox: By far the best performing product. Only a freckle of rust on the nail heads and no corrosion on the stripper clip components.

5) TW25B: Applied to level 2 condition, grease is slightly to moderately visible. Very light surface corrosion to the stripper clip and there is moderate rust on nail heads. There is salt buildup on the brass but it just wipes off clean.

1) Tufoil Gun Coat: Very light surface corrosion to the stripper clip and there is moderate rust on nail heads. Brass is discolored and starting to corrode. The parkerization did not show any rust till day 6 with slight rusting of the nails.

2) Shell Rotella T5 10w30: Nail heads covered and rust is cropping up on the stripper clip. Brass is starting to corrode.

3) Pennzoil High Mileage 5w30: Nail heads rusty and stripper clip rustier than the Rotella. Brass is starting to corrode.

NOTE: I don't use motor oil on my firearms or fishing gear but I tossed these two in the mix just to see how they fared. I know Mobil 1 is the gold standard for those who use motor oil on firearms but I didn't have any to test here.

4) ReelX: For those that don't know what ReelX is it's CorrosionX with an additional EP additive. (This is straight from their website: Starting with the revolutionary CorrosionX core technology, we added a package of extreme pressure additives specifically engineered to make your fishing reels achieve their ultimate performance. ReelX contains no wax, tar, silicone or other solids, so it will never gum-up). There is significant rust rust cropping up on the stripper clip and just a small freckling of rust on the nail heads. Brass is starting to corrode. I have this product in all my reel spool bearings.

What do you guys think? I would like some feedback and discussion.

Cliff's Notes: Eezox worked to best for me in this non scientific test.

Interesting, thanks for doing this test!! i wonder if the rust preventing results would correllate with the lubricating properties of each. I.E. how well does each lubricate? I am interested in froglube. My son has treated his AR with it, he seems to like it.

Just a suggestion-and I realize the TW25B is a kind of grease. Could you maybe test a lithium grease and see how it performs? Some people recommend using grease on the slides of semi-autos and in the case of the Glock on the one critical lubrication area.

I have tried Eezox. I don't like it because I think it has some dangerous chemicals in it. And it has a smell that I found disagreeable and made me slightly sick.

I tried all kinds of stuff and I like to say that I wish I had my money back that I spent trying all of that stuff. In all of my testing I found a few cleaners that worked fine. Good old Hoppes No.9 or Ballistol or Hoppes Elite gun cleaner will work fine on the bore of a barrel. For a rifle barrel with copper buildup there are some more powerful cleaners. I got sick and tired looking for a decent gun oil. I am glad you tested Tufoil GunCoat because that is one I never tried and I was curious about it.

Interesting, thanks for doing this test!! i wonder if the rust preventing results would correllate with the lubricating properties of each. I.E. how well does each lubricate? I am interested in froglube. My son has treated his AR with it, he seems to like it.

I'm really not sure but probably not. Clorox makes a heck of a short term lube but will eat steel up really quickly.

Just a suggestion-and I realize the TW25B is a kind of grease. Could you maybe test a lithium grease and see how it performs? Some people recommend using grease on the slides of semi-autos and in the case of the Glock on the one critical lubrication area.

I have tried Eezox. I don't like it because I think it has some dangerous chemicals in it. And it has a smell that I found disagreeable and made me slightly sick.

I tried all kinds of stuff and I like to say that I wish I had my money back that I spent trying all of that stuff. In all of my testing I found a few cleaners that worked fine. Good old Hoppes No.9 or Ballistol or Hoppes Elite gun cleaner will work fine on the bore of a barrel. For a rifle barrel with copper buildup there are some more powerful cleaners. I got sick and tired looking for a decent gun oil. I am glad you tested Tufoil GunCoat because that is one I never tried and I was curious about it.

Yes Eezox has 1,1,1-Trichloroethane in it which is not the safest chemical but it does make it a great cleaner. I tried the aerosol and I hated the way it smelled. The liquid version is not bad and I actually enjoy the smell. I understand what you mean, for years my dad and I used good ol' Hoppes #9 and Outers oil. Nary a speck of rust anywhere if we kept the weapons wiped down regularly. I wish I could have all the money I've spent on gun chemicals in the past 15 years. Tufoil is a great lube and a pretty good preservative but the price is cost prohibitive.

Thanks. I am pretty impressed with CorrosionX but sometimes I wonder if maybe just using lithium grease on the slides of a semi-auto is a good idea. I have some lithium grease that did not cost much and it says on the can that it can be used on guns. I got it at an auto supply shop.

Also, Hoppes sometimes recommends grease instead of oil when a gun is stored a long time. They have some grease for that purpose or at least they used to have some grease for that purpose in the past.

There are definitely cleaning products that work good enough. Now I am still evaluating CorrosionX. But so far I have never found a gun oil that really satisfied me 100%. RemOil totally dissatisfied me. Breakfree seems to be declining in quality and I didn't think it was perfect even when it was made for the military. Hoppes Elite seems kind of runny. I am just not very happy at all with gun oils.

In fact that was another reason I was considering a revolver. Mainly you just have to clean a revolver and you don't need much oil.

Also, I have noticed different patterns of wear on my guns. On my Glock .40 there is some wear on the barrel (the black coming off a little) but the slides are in good shape. On my S&W M&P 9mm the barrel looks almost brand new even though I have fired thousands of rounds in that gun. Most of the wear is in the slide areas. So oil seems good enough for the barrel of the 9mm. But I need something better for the slide areas. Some people recommend grease for the slide areas. Actually a combination of grease and oil because a little oil can be put in the slide glide areas.

The barrel of the S&W does not seem to wear regardless if I use Hoppes Elite, CorrosionX, Breakfree or Hoppes No. 9 gun oil.

I was thinking about using the lithium grease for some guns in storage also.

It looks to me from your results that the 2006 Breakfree was definitely better than the more recent Breakfree.

Nice test, I like how you included different metals. Ezzox and CorrosionX are usually the top performers for me and your test pretty much confirms that. Your results are similar to the results I get when I conduct tests like these. So far I have used steel plates, nails, steel wool and sections of rebar as test media but this was a neat idea. Thanks for posting